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Spanish Word of the Week - Estadounidense
Estadounidense – This is someone who is a citizen of the United States. The English equivalent is “American”.
If you are from China you are a chino (Chinese). If you are from Canada you are canadiense (Canadian). In Spanish, the United States is called Estados Unidos. Therefore its citizens are called Estadounidense.
Those of us who have citizenship in the U.S.A. call ourselves Americans. However, “The Americas” is the term used by the world to describe the entire western hemisphere, which includes all of the countries in North, Central and South America. Some who live in South and Central America find it a little offensive when U.S. citizens refer to ourselves as Americans. All countries from Canada to Chile are America. Therefore Spanish speakers refer to our country as Estados Unidos, and its citizens as Estadounidense.
Posted on September 26, 2007